Constraining the Inner Accretion Flow onto Black Holes with X-ray Polarimetry Observations

Spectropolarimetric observations, can be used to explore the structure of the inner accretion flow on to astrophysical stellar mass and supermassive black holes. The recent NASA granted X-ray polarimetry mission, Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) and the X-ray Imaging Polarimetry Explorer (XIPE) proposed to ESA will provide valuable new information from astrophysical sources. In this talk, I will present results from general relativistic ray tracing studies showing reflection spectra and polarization signatures of the inner accretion flow of active galactic nuclei. Combining polarimetric with spectral and timing results will allow us to understand the physical properties of the accretion disk and corona with higher accuracy. I will present the potential of X-ray polarization observations and reflection spectra in distinguishing among different corona models. Our results show that the future IXPE and XIPE missions will provide new insights into the physical properties of the plasma close to the event horizon of black holes.